Once grain has been harvested, it must usually be dried and stored. Typically, both the drying process and storage will be accomplished with the use of large storage bins designed for that purpose. Such storage bins are often cylindrical in shape and have a conical shaped apex. Both the diameter and height of such storage bins vary over a fairly wide range, thereby satisfying a wide variety of storage capacity needs.
As energy becomes more expensive, the grain processing industry has continued to develop more efficient ways to dry and store grain. Some new methods use natural air as the drying agent. Such are will be forced through the grain by blowers and fans.
When using the latter process to dry grain, the grain should be substantially evenly distributed throughout the grain storage bin. Unfortunately, as depicted in FIG. 1 of the drawings, grain that has been introduced into a storage bin by strandard techniques will not be evenly distributed. Rather, the grain will be much deeper at the center of the bin and more shallow torwards the perimeter of the sotrage area. This may result in uneven and unsatisfactory drying of the grain.
The applicant is not aware of any prior art apparatus that will evenly distribute grain or other small particles in a wide diameter storage bin. Furthermore, most particle spreading apparatus will not even satisfactorily distribute particles in a small diameter bin.
Therefore, there exists a need for a particle spreader apparatus that will ensure an even distribution of particles such as grain inside a storage bin. It would of course be desirable if such an apparatus could be easily manufactured at a reasonable cost.